Work starts on 10 new patrol boats for Egyptian Navy

An artist's impression of the Croatian Navy's Omiš-class patrol boat. (Brodosplit)

German shipyard NVL's Egyptian subsidiary announced on 3 November that it has commenced production of 10 PV43-M patrol vessels for the Egyptian Navy.

NVL Egypt said it was working with Alexandria Shipyard to build the vessels.

Neither the Egyptian Armed Forces nor Alexandria Shipyard has specifically referred to a contract for PV43-M vessels, but the latter said it is building 10 patrol vessels with a length of 43 m when it announced on 2 September that it had been visited by the chief of staff of the Royal Saudi Naval Forces.

Previously the naval arm of Lürssen, NVL is now owned by Rheinmetall. NVL Egypt said it was established in 2022 as a joint venture with Abou Quir and Magnom Industries and was selected as the preferred prime contractor for the PV43-M programme in 2024.

The PV43 design was first seen as a model during the Egyptian Defence Exhibition in 2021, when it was displayed on the Egyptian Naval Dockyard stand as an NVL product. The latest promotional image for what is now called the PV43-M shows the design has been modified to give the vessel cleaner lines.

It is clearly based on the Omiš class that is being built for the Croatian navy and coastguard by Brodosplit, with an early promotional image using a photograph of the first of that class with its Croatian flag substituted for an Egyptian one. While NVL has released no details, Brodosplit said the Omiš class is 43.16 m long and has a crew of 17, an endurance of up to 10 days, and a top speed of 28 kt.